Deputies said Thursday's search for the inmate lasted about four hours.

Deputies said the inmate was working as part of a group of prisoners who were cleaning up Jazz Fest trash at the fairgrounds, when he ran to the City Park at about 10 a.m.

Witnesses told officers they saw a man stripping off his orange Orleans Parish Prison jumpsuit and running around in his boxer shorts.

Officials said witnesses told them the man was last seen fleeing in green underwear. They found an orange Orleans Parish Prison jumpsuit near the dock.

Deputies said Dwayne Young, 32, was spotted running near Big Lake by the New Orleans Museum of Art and Christian Brothers School, which went on lockdown after the incident.

Joggers and workers were shocked to hear the news.

"(He was) in his underwear? I kind of want to go home now and not go running," a jogger said.

"I work on Harrison Avenue about a half mile from the park, and I got my people on lockdown," a worker said.

Orleans Parish Sheriff Marlin Gusman said Young was arrested in early May on charges of shoplifting and was serving a 14-day prison sentence. He was set to be released on Saturday.

However, Gusman also noted that Young had been arrested several years ago on suspicion of rape and robbery. The charges were refused by prosecutors, but Gusman said had the department been aware of the allegations, Young would likely not have been on a work detail.

Officers said Young is the fourth inmate to escape Orleans Parish Penitentiary in 2012 and the second in the week.

Gusman said Young was one of 14 inmates working at the fairgrounds and four guards were present.

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